


A slight abnormality of the inner big brother

by orphan_account



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Bullying, Family, Gen, Kid Fic, Protectiveness, School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 21:10:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1997943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Martin is hurt, and Simon is angry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A slight abnormality of the inner big brother

Bradley Spencer, tough man of the playground, and 8 year old boss of the school, was screaming like a girl.  
Simon's football game froze as he came running, and still screaming, around the corner. A crowd of boys, from year two to year five, followed him, some screaming, some shouting, some, he noticed, crying, but all with the sole intention of getting to Simon Crieff as quickly as they could.  
As he neared, it became clear that Brad had something in his arms. The other players on the pitch saw what it was, and they too, became concerned and restless.  
Still he came nearer and nearer, and Simon finally realized what he was holding.  
Martin.  
Unconscious.  
Bloody. 

He looked at Bradley. He knew him well- they were just about friends. But he knew he was a bully. And Martin, redhaired, short, year one, nerdy: the perfect target.  
"What have you done? What have you done?!" he screamed at the boy, now laying his little brother on the ground.  
"Nuffing! I swear, I swear! Nuffing! I ain't done nuffing!" squealed Brad. Simon was less respected, less tough, but a Year Six nonetheless, and this was his little brother.  
"Is he dead? Have you KILLED him?!"  
"No! No! I swear! I don't know. I don't know! Don't hurt me!"  
A year three was bending down next to him. Normally Year three was synonymous with invisible, but in that moment, in that single, terrifying moment, the year three was the most important person there.  
"Nope!" he chirped. "Not dead!"  
Simon did not attempt to disguise his sigh of relief. But still, Martin could be seriously injured, and Bradley Spencer was to blame.  
"What did you DO to him?!" he yelled, the force of his grasp on Brad's shirt nearly sending him over backwards.

"We were- it were- it were jus' a game!" he pleaded. "The- the roundabout- you know the roundabout?"  
Simon nodded. He didn't go round the other side often, but he knew the so-called 'roundabout', a bike wheel with a javelin crudely stuck through the middle, that the little kids played on. You could stand on it, and someone'd push you 'round so you span.  
"Well, we was jus' playin', jus' playin' on the roundabout-"  
"You tied him to it." interjected a year four.  
"Yeah, well, yeah, but we was jus' playin', and then I span 'im, and he liked it, he was 'aving fun, wasn't he, boys?"  
Bradley's gang stepped forward. "He was 'aving fun, boss."  
"Yeah, yeah, 'e was 'aving fun, and then he jus'- he jus'- like, blacked out, like, and we untied 'im, didn't we, boys?"  
"Yes, boss."  
"We untied 'im, an' he jus' fell. On to the playground."

The playground wasn't a nice field like other, posh schools. It was gravel, glued to the floor somehow. Capable of a nasty graze. Maybe, on the right person, blood.  
Especially if they were dizzy. 

A boy, John, (later nicknamed St. John, after the ambulances), had called 999 on the phone in reception.  
The ambulance took him away to hospital. Simon, still shocked, in the back, clutched the hand of a worried Caitlin, who'd been in the girl's side, and hadn't seen any of it.

"A slight abnormality of the inner ear." They'd said. "Nothing to worry about, providing he wears earplugs when swimming, and avoids getting... dizzy."  
A semi-dazed Martin sat up immediately. "Can I still fly?"  
The doctor laughed. He laughed for a long time, until he felt the stare of the genuinely anxious boy.  
There was a pause.  
"On a... on a plane?"  
Nodding.  
"Um, yes, you should be fine... flying."  
He shook his head slightly as he left the room. What five-year-old wants to know if he can go on an aeroplane before he wants to know if he can play sports?

Simon never talked to Bradley Spencer after that.


End file.
